MIAMI, FL – The Miami Dolphins were driving deep into Oakland Raiders territory, as Chad Pennington connected with Ted Ginn on receptions of 9 and 23 yards on their first drive of the second quarter. Ronnie Brown had a run of 21 yards and it appeared that the Dolphins were ready to hit paydirt once again.

But Chris Johnson stripped Brown on a run out of the ‘Wildcat’ formation which was recovered by Gibril Wilson and gave the Raiders the ball at their own 26-yard line.

The Raiders blundered through their next possession, as Cornell Green was flagged to start the drive on a false start and quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo botched a handoff to Darren McFadden and lost 13 yards. On 3^rd and 20, Justin Fargas loss one yard and the Raiders punted.

Miami wasn’t able to move the ball either, as the Raiders picked up their defensive play during the drive. Tommy Kelly and Gibril Wilson combined on a sack and Thomas Howard cut-down Ricky Williams on a short reception that lost 5 yards.

Oakland was the beneficiary of a questionable penalty on their next drive. On 3^rd and 3, Jason Allen was flagged for pass interference when his feel got tangled with Ashley Lelie. The 41-yard penalty was Oakland’s biggest gain in the afternoon to that point, as they had only managed 29-yards of total offense prior to that play.

JaMarcus Russell hooked up with Zach Miller two plays later for 27 yards, setting up the Raiders with a 1^st and goal at the Miami 5-yard line.

But two false start penalties on Kwame Harris and a pitch to McFadden that loss 6 yards had the Raiders going backwards. Miller hauled in a 16-yard toss on 3rd and goal from the 20-yard line. Then Sebastian Janikowski booted a 21-yard field goal to cut the Dolphins lead to 7-3.

ANALYSIS

John Wade has had problems along the interior all afternoon. The starting center has been manhandled at times, which has contributed to ineffective run game. Kwame Harris almost single-handedly killed one Raider drive and Cornell Green has also continued his sub par play. If not for that 41-yard penalty, the Raiders would have not put up any points in the first half. Darren McFadden has not been utilized as expected, especially considering the woes of the offense and his inactivity the last few weeks.  Miami has out gained the Raiders 196-57. With their 7-penalties, it’s a surprise that the are only down 4-points at the half.